The Air Force Office of Scientific Research gathered some 150 rocket scientists in Annapolis, Md., recently to discuss space propulsion and power. The focus was the work these leading scientists from universities and small businesses have done for the Air Force through AFOSR-funded research.
In 1941, Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold of the then-U.S. Army Air Corps, personally reviewed a jet engine patented by Sir Frank Whittle flying on a Gloster E.28/39 aircraft. Impressed by its design, Arnold arranged for a Whittle engine to be brought back to the U.S. and tasked General Electric…